Dog bite expert & animal behavior specialist

Richard H. Polsky, PhD, CDBC
Los Angeles, California

“Bringing the science of animal behavior to attorneys”

Animal behavior expert on dog bite attacks

Richard H. Polsky, PhD, CDBC
Los Angeles, California

• PhD in animal behavior

• Published in peer-reviewed journals

• Retained by attorneys on 300+ occasions

• Trial tested – 50 courtroom appearances

Testimonials from Attorneys about Dr. Polsky

Defense attorneys

“Thank you for your excellent contribution as an expert at trial and in conducting the pre-trial workup or pit bull dog bite case. Your expertise concerning animal behavior was indispensable. I am sure your testimony was a large factor in our ability to defense the case. Your dedication and accessibility was also appreciated. We would highly recommend you as an expert. Mr. Russell and I look forward to working with you in the future.”Kelly A. Ward, Esq.Harrington, Foxx, Dubrow & Canter, Los Angeles, California

“I want to thank you for the assistance and testimony you gave in this case. It took the jury just over an hour to find my client not guilty of all charges. I do not think we could have done it without your testimony. If my information is correct, out of six prosecutions, this is the first time in the history of this county that a case of this type has resulted in an acquittal for the defendant.”John T. Mobley, Esq.Austin, Lewis, & Rogers, P.A. Columbia, South Carolina

“Dr. Polsky was able to give strong and clear testimony. He was able to apply his background to the case in a credible and effective fashion.”Errol Berk, Esq. Law offices of Errol Berk, Ventura, California

“Thank you for the work you did in the Perry vs. Federico case. Although the case settled on the morning of the trial and did not need to put on any evidence, just knowing that I had an animal behaviorist as an expert gave me confidence in my position.”Kathryn DiCarlo, Esq.Law Offices of Thomas Moore & Associates, Glendale, California

“The case settled late Friday in Sacramento. Your purported testimony was very helpful in that the plaintiffs needed to understand that they could well lose this case. The mediator was able to coax them with this information way down and the case settled. Thank you very much.”John Boyden, Esq.
Erickson, Thorpe & Swainston, Reno, Nevada

“I would like to thank you for your testimony. Your testimony was excellent in this case. Your testimony helped shed light on the fact that the plaintiff, his parents, and his sister each lied about how the incident happened. You were an essential part of the case. If I have another occasion to use you, I will not hesitate to use you.”Jay S. McClaugherty, Esq.Law Offices of McClaugherty & Associates, Pasadena, California

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your valuable assistance in serving as an expert in this matter. Your thoroughness and professionalism made your retention a happy and successful one. As you know, the facts of this case were rather unusual and it was only through animal behavior expert interpretation that the jury could have properly been advised on what caused plaintiff to lose control of her dog and cause her injury. Following the defense verdict, I was able to speak with nine of the jurors for some time about the evidence. Universally, the jurors found your testimony to be credible, well-prepared, and persuasive. On a personal note, I must congratulate you on your handling of plaintiff attorney’s brusque cross-examination. Your calm under questioning was a stark contrast to plaintiff attorney’s questioning and courtroom theatrics. Thank you again for your hard work and professionalism in this matter. It was a pleasure working with you in achieving this excellent outcome.”Kenyon M. Young, Esq.
Bragg & Kuluva, San Diego, California

“Thank you very much for your expertise and assistance in defense of this claim. It was immediately following you deposition that plaintiff’s counsel indicated a willingness to consider a settlement for something other than full-value of a strict liability claim. Without your knowledge and ability to forcefully state your opinions and conclusions in the deposition it is doubtful that this matter would have settled before the binding arbitration.”Robert E. Kuhn, Esq.
Law Offices of Nolan B. Henderson, Glendale, California

“We prevailed in the hearing. They gave back Mr. Caffray’s dog with certain restrictions. The administrator’s opinion relied heavily upon your testimony in coming to his decision. Great job and thanks again.”Rob Jarchi, Esq.
Law offices of Green, Broillet, Panish & Wheeler, Santa Monica, California

“Your testimony was crucial to the outcome of the case. I thought that your testimony in our of proof to the court helped the court understand not only why your testimony should be admited, but also why animal behavior is a recognized scientific field of study that would help this jury, and any jury, understand the important issues that appear in these kinds of cases.”William Croft, Esq.
Law Offices of Hollenbeck, Lancaster, Miller & Andrews. Spokane, Washington

“Thank you for your help on this file. The case was resolved at $.50 on the dollar thanks to your help. I will keep your information in my files for future cases.”David A. Weber, Esq.
Potts and Associates, Phoenix, Arizona

“We had some surprising negotiations this morning, and the case settled on fair terms early this afternoon. I want you to know that it settled because of the hard work you did and the opinions you developed. I appreciate your efforts on the case very much. I think this is the first time the Phoenix State Farm office has retained an animal behavior expert within anyone’s memory. The claim rep told me today that another claim rep in his unit is wanting to retain you on another case she has.Thank you for helping to vindicate my client,and for helping to get this case resolved on good terms.”Douglas W. Glasson, Esq.
Barassi, Curl & Abraham, Tucson, Arizona

“Thank you for your assistance throughout this action and at trial. I think you presented some very strong evidence. We finally received the judge’s decision on Friday. I’m pleased to say that we were successful. Justice Wilson dimissed the claim against the Township of Uxbridge. Justice Wilson stated that, while you had definite opinions, she did not find you to be an advocate; rather, she found your evidence “was of assistance to the court.” In contrast, she found that Mr. Vinson assumed the role of advocate. This is a very hot issue in our courts right now — there is a view that experts are losing their impartiality and are becoming advocates for the party retaining them. Thank you very much again for your assistance in this trial.”Andra L. Maxwell-Baker, Esq.
Lerners LLP, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

“I received and just read your report. I think it’s great–exactly what we need. Thank you so much, especially for the incredibly quick turnaround. I appreciate the assistance, and I’ll be sure to report in with news on Cadillac. Thanks again.”Kara Corwin, Esq.
Solo practitioner, Los Angeles, California

“This case settled for a misdemeanor instead of a strike or felony. Thank you. I believe that your work was the deciding factor.”Angela Howard, Esq.
Office of the Public Defender, San Bernardino, California

“The charges against Marc have been dismissed with prejudice. Your input was invaluable in allowing us to put this mess in perspective. We can’t thank you enough for your thoughts and input. We used every bit of it to good advantage. Ultimately, we demonstrated that both physically and from an animal behavior standpoint the complaining witness was making up the story as he went.”Email correspondence from attorney in Mississippi

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your invaluable assistance in bringing this matter to a successful resolution.”Ronald S. Whitaker, Esq.Baraban & Teske, Pasadena, California

“I appreciate all the time and energy you have put into this manner and I believe your work was of great assistance in this case. I will certainly keep you in mind for any future dog or cat cases I have in which I need the assistance of an animal behaviorist.”Deborah Meyer-MorrisTharpe & Howell, Oxnard, California

Plaintiff attorneys

“Richard Polsky is probably the best expert in the country if you need one.”Solomon S. Neuhardt II, Esq.
Billings, Montana

“Thank you for all the work you did on the case of Barrett v. Continental Pipe and Supply. We were successful in obtaining a plaintiffs verdict in no small part to your efforts.”Raymond A. Novell, Esq.
Law offices of Raymond Novell, Claremont, California

“We sincerely appreciate the work you have done in our client’s behalf which I believe may well have been instrumental in resolving the case.”Harry R. Branscom, Esq.
Law offices of Marrison & Etess, Pasadena, California

“We attribute defense counsel’s willingness to settle the case to your participation, level of expertise and valuable deposition testimony. You served us very well and we truly appreciate the professionalism you provided on behalf of our client.”Louise A. Lewis, Esq.
Law Offices of Louise A, Lewis, Pasadena, California

“Your testimony proved to be an important element in the satisfactory prosecution of our case. With your assistance, we were able to prevail upon a jury that the defendant’s dog was in fact aggressive, highly motivated and that he did chase my client. Once again, thank you for your assistance.”M. Lawrence Lallande, Esq.
Law Offices of Perona, Langer & Beck, Long Beach, California

“The defense more than doubled their settlement offer after your deposition was taken. Obviously, your expert testimony had a dramatic impact on the outcome of the case.”Raymond B. McFalone, Esq.
Law offices of Castleman, McFalone & O’Blennis, Pleasanton, California

“I appreciate you assistance on this matter and believe your testimony was a critical factor in getting AllState to turn the corner and offer something reasonable. I look forward to working with you again in the future and greatly appreciate your candid approach on this matter. I will definitely recommend you to others.”Samer Habbas, Esq.
Law Offices of Samer Habbas, Irvine, California

“Dr. Polsky did an excellent job for me recently on a dog bite case and because of his expertise we managed to settle the case for a substantial amount of money.”Donald L. Galine, Esq.
Law Offices of Donald L. Galine, San Mateo, California

“Your straightforward expert testimony played an integral role in showing the arbitrator that the dog that hit the motorcycle had a propensity towards chasing motorcycles, etc. Thank you for your assistance.”Laurence H. Mandell, Esq.
Law Offices of Weinreb, Weinreb and Mandell, Northridge, California

“I am glad that I ran into your expert listing on the internet. I called you in desperation because I needed help with my Dalmation case. Your obvious expertise, together with good common sense and excellent knowledge of the law, helped me prepare many aspects of my case and ultimately lead to a settlement twenty-four hours before your scheduled examination of the dog. I would highly recommend you as an expert to any lawyer, plaintiff or defense.”Barbara S. Williams, Esq.
Law Offices of Burnett & Williams, Leesburg, Virginia

“Thank you for educating me about the behavior of rottweiler dogs. Your dedication to the case was most outstanding. Your expert testimony to the jury in the field of animal behavior and your trial exhibit persuaded the jury that the landowners must have known of the rottweiler dogs’ dangerous and vicious propensities to human beings.”Thomas Celli, Esq.
Law Offices of Thomas M. Celli, Esq. Los Angeles, California

“You did a tremendous job on your Declaration ….. Thanks again for the great job.”Douglas A. Ames, Esq.
Law Offices of Douglas A. Ames, Huntington Beach, California.

“The consensus was that you testified well. You looked at the jury when you spoke, you remained calm in spite of provocation by the defense, and you perked up to a state of justified argumentativeness when confronted with the training exercise of the police dogs. Good work, thanks.”Benjamin Pavone, Esq.
Law Offices of Benjamin Pavone, San Diego, California

“Very, very good. Your work is outstanding. I have another dog bite case pending and will not hesitate to call upon you.”Steve Roberts, Esq.
Belsher & Becker, San Luis Obispo, CA.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your assistance and courtsey to me and this office. Your insight and breadth of knowledge were especially helpful in resolving this matter. We do appreciate all your work.”Charles E. Coffin, Paralegal to attorney, Robert E. Wall
Grunsky, Ebey, Farrar & Howell, Watsonville, California

“Thank you so much! Mr. Thomas thanks you as well. The verdict was roughly $982,000. Not bad for $24k meds and $16k LOE. It has been quite a whirlwind of a day for me, getting this verdict. I wanted to call you personally, but I just finished celebrating late, and did not want to delay thanking you.”Silvio Natale, Esq.
Nelson & Natale, Los Angeles, California

“Just settled at court $22,500 total. You were the key! I appreciate your hard work and help. I look forward to working with you again.”Gerald Marcus, Esq.
Gerald Marcus Law Offices, Calabasas, California

“We won! No provocation. The jury felt your testimony was far more substantive than was Naumann’s. They were pissed she didn’t do the dog-dog aggression part of her assessment. One juror planned to contact about an issue with his dog. Althought you were expensive, I explained in my closing you were considerably more expensive than Naumann b/c (1) you are far more qualified, and (b) you actually reviewed all of the records. Thanks again for all your help.”Barry Shalen, Esq
Goldberg & Osborne, Phoenix, Arizona

“Thank you for your professional assistance on this interesting case. If I ever have another animal attack case, I hope I can call on your services again.”Peter Chase Neumann, Esq
Law offices of Peter Chase Newman, Reno, Nevada

“Thank you for your work on this case. You are an asset to have on animal cases”. John J. Clayton, Esq
Harris Personal Injury Lawyers, San Diego, California

“Thank you for your work in this case. Your contribution was important, and Ms. Kahn spoke favorably of you after attending your deposition.”Lori Lockhart Paralegal, Hinton, Alfert & Kahn, Walnut Creek, California

“We greatly appreciate the contribution you made to our presentation of these claims on behalf of the Burtons. We believe that your opinions and deposition testimony were critical in establishing both the dangerousness of the cat in question and the negligence of PetsMart and Ms. Carter in the matter in which this cat and others was maintained, handled, and offered for “adoption” at PetsMart. In short, your testimony was instrumental in the successful resolution of the Burtons’ claim. We would be happy to recommend your services to other persons who have suffered similar injuries due to the negligence of animal owners and pet stores. Thank you again for your assistance.”Paul Knisely, Esq.Knisley & Prehoditch, P.C. Austin, Texas

“I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your assistance in enabling us to reach such a favorable conclusion. Your expertise in helping us understand the nature of the invisible fence system and how it operates within the context of animal behavior allowed us to identify the defects in the product. This information facilitate our aggressively prosecuting Joey’s claim, and we feel confident that a jury would have understood the defects as well. Your assistance was an invaluable component of Joey’s success. Please feel free to use me as a reference should the need arise in the future.”Dennis P. Mulvihill, Esq.Lowe, Eklund, Wakefield, LLP. Cleveland, Ohio